1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers of the type used to store goods such as articles of freight being temporarily held at a shipping source or destination. More particularly, the invention relates to a fold-up storage container which may be transported to a storage site in a relatively flat, compact package, and folded upwards therefrom to construct a walk-in container which is closable and lockable to secure goods placed within the container from pilferage and damage by the elements.
2. Description of Background Art
Containers used to store goods at warehouses, wharves and similar locations typically consist of rectangularly-shaped box-like structures which are constructed from rectangularly-shaped metal panels that are fastened together to form the container. The panels are customarily made of corrugated steel plates which are bolted or welded together to form the container. Most such containers have a front end panel provided with one or more doors which may be pivoted open on vertical axes to allow access to the interior space of the container, and pivoted closed and locked to secure goods within the containers. Although such containers are available in a variety of sizes, they usually have a height of 8 feet or more to afford easy access to the interior of a container by workmen and materials handling equipment such as hand trucks. The width and length dimensions of such containers are also variable, typical width and length values being eight feet and ten feet, respectively.
From the foregoing description, it can be readily appreciated that industrial containers of the type described are relatively bulky. There fore, shipping such containers from a manufacturing plant to a use site such as a warehouse or wharf is relatively expensive. For that reason, among others, it would be desirable to have available an industrial storage container which could be shipped in a collapsed, or more compact configuration that would occupy less volume than a fully assembled and operational container. In apparent recognition of the desirability of have containers which may be transported in a collapsed form, a number of inventors have disclosed such containers, including Effird, U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,211, Collapsible Moving And Storage Container, Hawkins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,310, Collapsible Storage Container And Method For Storing Matter; Pflueger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,830, Collapsible Freight And Storage Container; Hart, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,305, Collapsible Storage Container, and Hart, U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,918, Collapsible Storage Container.
The present invention was conceived of to provide a fold-up storage container which has structural and operational characteristics that enable the container to be shipped to a use site in a compact, relatively flat package, and be assembled on-site into a storage container for securing articles against the elements and pilferage.
An object of the present invention is to provide a storage container including sub-assembly components which all may be transported in a relatively thin package, and readily folded-up and fastened together at a use site to assemble a useable storage container.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up storage container having pairs of wall panels joinable together with pairs of mating tubular fastener lugs, each joint being secured by means of a hinge pin received in interference fits in the bores of the lug pair.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up storage container including a base which has a skeletal base frame made of hollow rectangular tubes arranged in a rectangular grid, outer peripheral edges of the tubes at the sides of the base being provided with pairs of spaced apart openings which are adapted to received a pair of laterally spaced apart forks protruding forward from a fork-lift truck.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up storage container which has at each corner of a base frame thereof a pair of perpendicularly oriented, identical connector castings including a corner casting located at the corner intersection of sides of the base, and an offset casting located on an edge of the base spaced inwards from the corner, the connector castings being adapted to couple together with corresponding connector castings of additional such storage containers in both side-by-side and end-to-end arrangements.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up shipping container having at the corners of a roof panel thereof L-shaped stacking blocks which both enable a plurality of containers to be stacked vertically, while protecting a lifting ring protruding upwards from an end post at each corner from damage when the containers are stacked.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up storage container which includes a roof panel that has a downwardly protruding, horizontally disposed rectangular ring comprised of four rectangular cross section ribs, the ring fitting concentrically within a horizontally disposed peripheral ring formed by four horizontally disposed square cross section ribs located at upper peripheral edges of side and end panels of the container.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up storage container which includes a roof panel that has a downwardly protruding, horizontally disposed rectangular ring comprised of four triangular cross section ribs, the ring fitting concentrically within a horizontally disposed peripheral ring formed by four triangular cross section ribs located at upper peripheral edge of side and end panels of the container.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fold-up container having vertical end posts each capped at an upper end thereof by a sloping end plate adapted to drain water from a roof panel of the container.
Various other objects and advantages of the present invention, and its most novel features, will become apparent to those skilled in the art by perusing the accompanying specification, drawings and claims.
It is to be understood that although the invention disclosed herein is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages described, the characteristics of the invention described herein are merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, I do not intend that the scope of my exclusive rights and privileges in the invention be limited to details of the embodiments described. I do intend that equivalents, adaptations and modifications of the invention reasonably inferable from the description contained herein be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Briefly stated, the present invention comprehends a storage container for freight and other such goods, the container being transportable to a storage site in a substantially flat or knocked-down configuration, and readily assembled into a fully operational and useable storage container by means of simple assembly steps performable by relatively low skill-level workmen, the steps including folding up subassembly components from a parallel, flattened configuration to a perpendicular, upright position.
A basic embodiment of a fold-up storage container according to the present invention includes a rectangularly-shaped, generally planar base frame, a pair of generally rectangularly-shaped side panels, a pair of front and rear rectangularly-shaped end panels protruding upwards from the base frame, and a rectangularly-shaped roof panel overlying the side and end panels. Preferably, the front and rear end panels are hingedly or pivotably fastened to front and rear edge walls of the base panel. In this arrangement, one panel, e.g., the front end panel is pivoted downwards to a parallel overlying relationship relative to the base frame, and the other panel, e.g., the rear end panel is pivoted parallel to and overlying the front panel and base panel to form a relatively thin, rectangularly-shaped subassembly sandwich. A first step in assembling that embodiment of a fold-up container according to the present invention consists of folding up the rear end panel to an upright, vertical disposition, perpendicular to the base frame. Next, the front end panel is similarly folded up to a vertical orientation. Left and right vertically disposed side panels are then attached to opposite sides of the base frame. Then, a roof or hat panel is installed over the upper peripheral edges of the front and rear end panels, and the two side panels, and secured thereto to form a rigid, completely assembled storage container.
According to one aspect of the invention, each side panel and end panel is securely fastened to the roof panel by two or more fastener joints of novel construction and function. Each such joint consists of a pair of adjacent coaxially aligned, horizontally disposed tubular hinge lug members, one lug protruding downwardly from the roof panel, and a mating lug protruding inwardly from an inner surface of a vertically disposed side or end panel, that lug being located a short distance below the upper peripheral edge of a vertical panel. Each pair of roof and vertical panel tubular lug members is spaced longitudinally apart a distance slightly greater than the length of each lug, so that adjacent end faces of the lug pair are spaced a short distance apart. Each lug pair is fastened together by a stainless steel pin which is forced into an interference fit within the coaxially aligned, horizontally disposed bores of a pair of adjacent lugs.
According to another aspect of the invention, each roof panel tubular hinge fastener lug protrudes downwardly from a horizontally disposed ring which is concentric with the roof panel, the ring being formed of four straight, square cross-section tubular ribs arranged into a rectangle. The outer vertical surfaces of opposed parallel pairs of roof ring ribs are spaced slightly closer together than the inner vertical surfaces of pairs of upper peripheral ribs which protrude upwards from pairs of side and end panels. This arrangement allows the roof ring to be insertably received within a ring formed by end and side panel upper peripheral ribs. The roof panel preferably has a downwardly located peripheral flange spaced outwardly from the roof ring ribs, at a distance slightly greater than the spacing between outer corresponding surfaces of the end panel and side panel upper peripheral ribs, thus overlapping the end and side panels to form a weather-tight seal. In a variation of this aspect of the invention, both the roof and side and end panel ribs have right triangular cross-sectional shapes, the hypotenuses of the ribs angling downwardly towards the center of the container and conformally contacting one another in a dual ramp arrangement to facilitate sliding the roof panel into place atop the side and end panels.
According to another aspect of the invention, the base of the container has a skeletal frame made of four hollow rectangular tubes arranged into a rectangular grid having in plan view the outline of a double-barred cross. Outer peripheral faces of each of the four tubes have rectangularly-shaped openings which form pairs of the proper size and spacing to receive a pair of forks protruding from a fork lift truck. With this arrangement, a fork lift truck may engage and lift any of the four sides of the container base.
According to another aspect of the invention, a pair of rectangular block-shaped connector castings is installed at each of the four corners of the base, each connector casting having a pair of mutually perpendicular bolt bores. A first, corner connector casting is located directly at a base corner, and a second, offset connector casting is rotated 90 degrees and spaced longitudinally a short distance along an edge of the base, inwards from the corner. This arrangement enables pairs of connector castings of adjacent containers to be fitted together in both side-by-side and end-to-end configurations, and bolted together to secure the containers in a selected configuration.
According to another aspect of the invention, a tubular L-shaped stacking block protrudes upwardly from each of the four corners of the roof panel, the stacking blocks enabling a plurality of containers to be stacked vertically, while protecting a lifting ring installed at each corner from damage when the containers are vertically stacked.
According to another aspect of the invention, the container has vertically disposed end posts at each corner thereof, each end post being capped at an upper end thereof with a sloping end plate that holds a lifting ring and is sloped to facilitate draining rain water of the roof panels.